Counting carbs/calories is a drag. Obsessive scale stepping is a recipe for despair. If you want to count something, "days on habit" is a much better metric. Checking off days on a calendar would do just fine, but if you do it here you get accountability and support. Here's how. Start a new topic in this forum called (say) "Your Name Daily Check In." Then every N day post a "reply" to that topic as to whether you stayed on habit. A simple "<font color="green">SUCCESS</font>" or "<font color="red">FAILURE</font>" (or your preferred euphemism if that's too harsh) is sufficient, but obviously you're welcome to write more if you want. On S-days just register that you're taking an S-day. You don't have to do this forever, just until you're confident you've built the habit. Feel free to check in weekly or monthly or sporadically instead of daily. Feel free also to track other habits besides No-s (I'm keeping this forum under No-s because that's what the vast majority are using it for). See also my <a href="/habitcal/">HabitCal</a> tool for another more formal (and perhaps complementary) way to track habits.

Saturday S day
B: peanuts, 1 egg +cheese/toast, butter, plums, strawberries
L: lunch out with Meaghan: Concept Cafe: chicken sandwich, fries, coffee
Snack at IEC: chips, wafer cookies, mini-creampuffs
S: (skipped)
Had slightly mixed feelings about this S day, as I caught a reflection of myself in a window, from the side, while sitting on a bench eating my lunch. NOT a flattering angle. But I did go on to eat the planned snack. "You can't fail on an S-day"... even if you feel like a beached whale in a red sweater!

Last edited by osoniye on Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Su140316
S day treat: iced mocha (YUM!!), 1/3 doughnut
B: veggie burger/carrots, mayo
L: beans +beef/carrots, pudding
S: toast, butter, pudding
Eating everything up before work travel tomorrow morning. Still not feeling great after being sick for several weeks, so started on antibiotics. Blek.
I unplug the fridge here whenever I travel, so it's good discipline to use up stuff or discard it. I love coming home to a fresh start other than panty items!
Since I'll be one for 10 days, I may not be posting much, but will be doing my best to stay on habit.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

(Back "home")
Su140330
B: 2 slices soda bread toasted w/butter, coffee w/milk @IEC
L: 1 slice soda bread w/butter/ tomato, lettuce, cuke salad w/Italian dressing
S: Snacky supper: peanuts, roasted grain
Most of the trip was NoS compliant, with a little "funny stuff" of cocoa a few mornings, and a virtually plated dinner out, involving perhaps too many fries. I attribute the apparent lack of weight loss to too many milky coffees, a few heavily plated pizza dinners and maybe some water retention during the flight back, as well as a wild S meal Saturday night. We'll see what the net effect really was in a few days, I suppose.
I didn't have opportunity or desire for any S's today, I think because I'm tired from travel. I am going to trade out with Tuesday, meaning that I will take a NWS day then if I feel like it, or not if I don't.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Mo140331
B: peanuts, roasted grain, milky decaf coffee
L: lentil stew/ sourdough flatbread/ tomato, lettuce, cucumber salad with lemons/salt/pepper
S: leftover salad and flatbread
I've been thinking about my decision to trade my S day from Sunday (yesterday) to Tuesday (tomorrow). I know it's a little bit of funny business, but at least it presents itself as such. I think the occasional trade sticks out like a sore thumb, but is not into idiot territory. We'll see how it goes.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Hi eschano- Yeah, I'm curious about how it will work out long term for me, if I do it once in a while. I actually got the idea from our fearless leader's check-in thread, and he called it funny stuff rather than a mod, so I'm following suit. A difference I noted is that he traded forward, along the lines of "I'll take a NWS day tomorrow rather than this coming Sunday", whereas I'm trading the opposite way, i.e. from the prior weekend, so that might make some difference, maybe psychologically. I don't know.
I used to do the mod of freely floating S days, but that was too little structure. I am hoping that the odd trade will keep things in the open and visible, in case it's not really working to my advantage! I think that in general, keeping S days to the weekend and really special days is wise. I'm committed to doing basically Vanilla NoS through June, and after that, we'll see about real mods.

Last edited by osoniye on Fri Apr 04, 2014 4:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Tu140401 N day
B: fruit salad: mango, strawberry, banana, avocado / milky coffee @Kaldi's
L: lentil stew/ sourdough flatbread/ tomato, lettuce, cucumber salad with lemon juice/salt/pepper
S: milk @IEC, bread, bread sticks, peanuts, grains
Well the funny business is about to get worse... I didn't want to take an S day today for various reasons. I decided to take the traded S day from Sunday to tomorrow (Wednesday) instead of today. The kitchen where I live is torn up due to structural damage in the plumbing. I have planned to go out for lunch tomorrow, and also to have morning coffee with a friend at her house, and there is often cake involved in such things.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Sounds reasonable to trade for today. And: I think trading backwards is much better as you already know you had your green sunday rather than you'll have to give it up later. That would make a massive difference to me! Worst case scenario you end up obliging the "sometimes" for S days.

I also had a NWS day scheduled yesterday and didn't take it. But as I wasn't trading that's that.

Hmmm, Automated, if I Reinhard discussed trading days as an example of an "advanced maneuver"... I should be veeery careful. I have been around here for a long time, but I'm not known for streaks of green with no funny business. I'll try to keep it limited, though this week doesn't look like the time to try too hard...
More funny business to come... I have been invited to a special birthday party for Friday night, and am actually considering trading Saturday to Friday. Will the funniness never end? I have a brunch on Saturday, but I think I can easily limit that to one plate of savory food. (I wonder if 2 plates at br/unch count as.... I'd better not go there!)

There is a lot of good in what you say, Eschano!
Th140403 N day
B: lentils, flatbread
L: fish, okra, brown rice with mushrooms
S: vegan platter
Trying to eat sort of simple, wholesome food, with just a few items at each meal. This is not a law or a mod, just what I think is healthy, at the moment. Also finding that a heavy breakfast, light lunch and
early supper work best for me to have the best satiety on a reasonable amount of food. I also benefit from a light lunch keeping me from getting sleepy while working in the afternoon!
I'm now 10# down from my February NoS re-start weight: yay! I want to get back to my original weight, when I started NoS in May of 2010... then track weight loss from there, again. Even though it's great to be down some, it is from a higher weight that came from too much vacation and holiday indulgence in a couple of these years, when I really wasn't keeping N days very green. So, this 10# loss is kind of a muted victory.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Fr140404 NWS day
B: (skipped) milky coffee
L: fish/rice/mushroom, 1/2 tomato, sm strwb/lettuce cottage cheese salad, a couple of wafer cookies
S: @Sishu: burger, fries, 1/3 chocolate chip cookie, few sips coffee (Kara +Justin's birthdays)
A fine day with minimal treats, but I was glad I took a NWS day. The birthday party was at a restaurant, and cake was only if you ordered it, and I was pretty full from the meal. Nice to have a bit of a cookie to finish the meal off.
Thanks for the encouragement, Linda. I AM glad to have lost this weight so far. Just have to try to enjoy it and not concentrate on the idea that I shouldn't have regained it in the first place!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

It can be amazing how little food it takes to be enough to satisfy hunger, at least on some days. These days, I could probably skip some meals but I find so far it starts messing with my mind, so I have something. There's room for experimentation how much dense food we need at our meals.

Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 9 years & counting
Age 65
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

Hi Oolala- Yeah, we don't necessarily need a huge volume of food... but even if on the down side food can provide a false comfort, on the up side, it is a normal part of being human to enjoy food and the eating experience. I remember my dad took an early retirement and immediately switched to 2 meals per day, though now that I think of it, he often had a late night snack. I can imagine going to a 2 meal pattern some day, but it doesn't work for a lot of people with working hours, as a brunch meal seems to be a useful part of it. Probably for most of us, eating 3 light meals is the best thing, and I agree that learning how light they should be is the ongoing feat.

Sa140405 S day!
Brunch: @Arabon: eggs, sourdough bread, cooked grain, 1/3 pancake, coffee w/milk, sm ice cream cone
a few pieces of candy
S: fish, broccoli, cabbage, dark sourdough flat bread
The ice cream cone tasted a little bit odd. I think it was because I haven't had many sweets lately, so I'm sort of sensitized to any odd sweeteners or fake sweet flavorings. Note to self: avoid the berry/cherry unless it's really high quality! The candy had the effect of making me want a LOT more, but I didn't keep going, as I had decided that a few fun sized pieces really was a reasonable serving.
Supper was very good and satisfying, and no seconds or sweets were required!
I'm thinking of trying to stay off the S day trading rollercoaster. My thought is to leave the weekends as S days, with the "sometimes" clause, and then to declare NWS days when I need them. If that is more than 2 in a month, I'll try to see if there is a good balance of weekend S days where I don't have many or any S's vs. extra NWS days, and try to evaluate that.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

I've thought when I retire that I might be a brunch-and-dinner person, although the desire to have a meal at meal time, hungry or not, is an ongoing issue for me.

I continue to want more sweets when I have them, but so far, that is an acceptable burden to me. If you continue with your practice of limiting them even when you want more, I think that will be your new default.

Whether you have S's or not, enjoy the S day!

Count plates, not calories. Three a day. 9 years & counting
Age 65
SBMI Jan/10-30.8
Jan/12-26.8
Mar/13-24.9 Stayed at +/- 8-lb. for three years Sept/17 22.8 (but more fluctuation)
Mar/18 22.2

Hi Oolala- yeah, I could see becoming a brunch and dinner person. I think I'd like to eat at 10 am and 4:30 or 5pm. You mentioned wanting to eat at meal time. I suppose I expect that if I got used to eating my 2 meals at a certain time, that would become the default of what "meal time" would mean.

Su140406 S day (evoking the "sometimes" clause)
B: fruit salad, toast
L: (@ Salt&Suga with G) souvlaki and fries
S: French toast (no syrup), 1/2 mango, few strawberries
So... I had a lovely day, enjoyed my food, and didn't feel the need for any S's. I'm glad to be at peace with that and not mentally grabbing at how to do a make-up so I don't miss out! Lunch was heavy, but it fit easily on 1 plate, supper was yummy, and I didn't need to add any extra sweet stuff. I guess the day in total was a little high-carb, but that's OK.
There is a lot of good food in this world that fits on a plate, that isn't sweet, to be had!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Mo140407 Red day
B: milky coffee, few wafer cookies
L: veggie platter, few wafer cookies, a bite of a doughnut
S: fish/veg/dark flat bread
This is the first red day in a while. I was running late this morning, so didn't eat breakfast. I then had a few wafer cookies with my coffee at work and had a few snacky-sweet bites later in the day, but they didn't amount to much. Not a major fail, but red none the less. Not sure what tomorrow will hold as I have an early meeting and may be faced with the lack of ease for preparing breakfast. Will try to plan something.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

We140409 Red day
B: fruit salad
L: veggie platter, 2nds of green beans
S: cabbage/carrots, rice with mushrooms, banana
Sooo, I ate a plate of lunch and wanted more green beans, so I ate them. I think the fact that it was healthy food, and still constitutes a fail is significant for habit, and doesn't allow a slippery slope of overeating at meals to get established. So I own it as a fail.
Despite an imperfect week, I'm showing a 1.5# weight loss this week. That's baffling... it may last, or prove to be a fluctuation, but I'm really glad I still seem to be losing rather than gaining. (I think I underestimate how much I was taking in, with sweet snacks and large meals over the holidays and surrounding my birthday in January.)

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Sa140412 S Day
Yummy Brunch @Efoy with Kara: mushroom omelet, hash browns, toast with honey-butter, fruit salad, coffee.
S: lentils, brown rice, okra/onion/broccoli, roasted green beans, banana
Still getting used to the idea that it's not the end of the world to go an S day without any S's... I think I suffer from feelings of "entitlement"! This was a flexi-day, as the fruit salad at brunch was extra, given the plate of other food, but then it was doubling for 2 meals, so that hardly seems like an S, though I guess technically it is since it was eaten all at once. While it's hard to give up potential S's, I do like the feeling of the scales moving very gradually down and being able (barely) to fit into some clothes that had gotten too tight.
The big challenge will be May2-June 18th when I will be traveling and having access to more food treats than I am used to here. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but am already thinking of how things should be... considering making fast food and crunchy snack foods into S day treats and trying to keep to a general 3 plate system with desserts fitting on my plate on S days. Just a thought. That way things wouldn't get so out of control, and N days would continue to be mostly healthy home-made foods. If I could get through May on that plan, then let June be a bit more free, it might be a good balance. I hate the usual pattern of coming back from travel having gained quite a few #'s!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Su140413 S day
B: coffee with milk, smoothie: milk, banana, cocoa nibs, strawberries, pineapple, mango
L: (Sara's confirmation day!) chips/carrots/cucumber, goulash, rice, cabbage, salad, cake, coffee
S: (skipped. Went for a walk instead.)
I did well at the confirmation party at first, with the appetizers, and 1 plate of food. Then I overdid it on all the lovely cakes people brought. Thought I should try a small piece of each one- ha! That was kind of a Lot Of Cake, and then I went back for a smidgen more of the really good ones. Should have taken a small piece of 3 or so of the best looking ones and called it a day. I think I can say I was an official "idiot".

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

With regard to the whole "don't be an idiot" on S days and too full plates on N days... something I noticed is that I find myself in the company of a group of people where I am often at a table with some of the German men, and the idea of a moderate plate is nonsense in that setting. They can sometimes pile a plate up vertically that defies the imagination, and possibly gravity. So I miss out on the embarrassment that should probably occur when I get a too full plate going!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Th140417
B: coffee, malt beverage (non-alcoholic)
L: egg salad, mixed grilled vegetables, sourdough flatbread
S: stir fried tofu and green beans
The past few days have seen too much funny stuff, with virtual plated snacky foods, and some ethnic foods that are eaten off one large plate with other people. I only ate 1 order's worth of anything, but who really knows what that would have looked like on a normal plate. There were a few bites of cookies in there, too. So, today I'm back on the straight and narrow.
I am planning to take just the normal Sat and Sun S days this Easter weekend. My celebrating with people will be done on Sunday.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Needed to do some baking for Tues/Wed, so decided to do it today so I can have some, and then freeze what I plan to take to events. I'm happy with that decision, and I hope it keeps me from sampling same at those events! (YUM, I reeeeally enjoyed my snack!)
I tried something today that makes sense to me as an option for routine S days (ordinary weekends) that is to sort of virtual plate, so that the equivalent of what I eat is about 3 plates worth. It can be anything, and eaten at any time, but for example today I had a small breakfast, large lunch, sweet snack and small supper. The snack and supper would have been about 1 plate, and the breakfast and lunch evened out. I'm not making this into a hard and fast rule or anything, but I like the idea of having "whatever I want" but also not overeating on S days. It will be interesting what the scales says to this. I have a really big meal coming up tomorrow for Easter dinner, so today's discretion may get lost in the wash.

Last edited by osoniye on Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Hey Sonya! It's good to be back posting again and I'm so grateful for you stopping by my blog and posting encouraging words. It is so reassuring to 'meet' a fellow former GSer too...were you in GS for long? I was on and off for a couple of years, before that it was FA, OA-how etc I did really well in OA for years so in retrospect I'm not sure why I switched to the more extreme fellowships...vanity I think!!

Anyway sounds like you're quite entrepid living in high altitude in a foreign land. Sounds exciting but also quite challenging!

I loved your idea/mod of floating S days - shame that idea didn't work over the longhaul but swopping - although not to be done lightly - sounds like a good solution to the fact that your socialising doesn't always fall neatly on the weekend. It's great to be able to do what works for us isn't it? Still find the relative freedom of NoS quite hard at times...and then at other times it doesn't feel like freedom at all...

The week has mostly been OK. There has been some funny stuff of virtual plating for breakfast most days... grab something quick on my way out the door, then eat something later with coffee at work... could be virtual breakfast, could be considered a snack. I don't feel too virtuous!
Today was a nice S day. I ate with a friend from the Philippines. Apparently there they serve a lot of small dishes, so if you take a little of everything you have quite a feast. It seems to be one of those cultures where you take a little to start and keep coming back, followed by fruit and cake with tea. I'm sure glad it was an S day!
Thanks for stopping by, Kookie! My GS experience lasted about a year... a lady from the US came to where I live, and then started a weekly meeting because she couldn't keep up on her own. I went through 3 sponsors, those who left the program or had too many sponsees. I lost weight quickly, but was obsessed with committing meals, etc. Had many day one's as hospitality is important here and I had (and still do have) a hard time turning down food that somebody made just for me. Especially when lower income people here eat and serve a lot of starch. I was really not healthy at the end of that- very emotional and physically weak. Whew.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Things are going along nicely. I haven't been posting a food diary as it's so repetitive, but it's 3 ample plates per day, no sweets during the week.
Friday will be an NWS day, as I'm traveling to the US from overseas. I'll probably eat LESS overall, but will eat any sweet those nice folks on the plane offer me.
Then the real challenge comes, in the land of snacking and fast food. I'll try to keep the unhealthy stuff to the weekends, but the only hard and fast rules are Vanilla NoS, as I don't want to derail over something that is allowed on this plan anyway.
Wish me luck!!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Hi Everybody,
Well, here I am, starting over once again. I had that visit to the US, which did not go well NoS-wise and I regained the 10# I had lost since February and added 4# more. The good news is that I was on vacation after a wedding in Germany and didn't gain any more weight. I ate a lot, but did a lot of walking while sight-seeing that made all the difference.
So, back on the horse, or wagon or whatever it is. I like knowing that I can always come back to NoS and it is a gentle adjustment in the right direction no matter where I'm starting from.
So I'll enjoy a moderate S weekend- am just finishing up a LandOLakes hot cocoa packet (why are they so good?), and have supper plans with a friend tonight and lunch plans tomorrow.
Looking forward to 3 savory, single plate meals and no snacks on Monday.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

140804 Mon
B: Oatmeal with nuts/seeds/fruit
L: Cheese and crackers
S: Beans and rice
Well, I had some random squares of chocolate today, so it's red. Lunch was too snacky. I need to get out and buy some fresh fruit and veg to be able to round out the meals. I have been sort of a hermit since getting home on Wednesday, have only left the house twice. I'm not going to sweat the red day, as I'm getting back on habit. I ate 3 meals and did not overeat.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

140804 Tues- Green day!
B: Oatmeal with nuts/seeds/fruit/brown sugar, cinnamon cherry mocha coffee w/1 packet sugar (Yum!)
L: Cheese and wasa crackers
S: Beans and rice
Though I had brown sugar on my oatmeal and 1 packet sugar in my coffee, these were normal amounts to the item, so not an actual sweet. Nice to have the freedom that NoS is not "no sugar".
It's so nice to have a green day! I ate breakfast and lunch a bit close together and had an early supper, but when I had a little bit of hunger in the later evening, I decided just to ignore it. Had some black coffee that I thought was decaf, but turned out to maybe be regular. It's cold here, so after feeling freezing all day went for a walk with a friend when the sun came out in the evening. I was able to pick up some fresh veggies and grapefruit, so I hope today's eating will be more balanced.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

We 140806
B: Cheese and wasa crackers
L: Rice and pureed beans soup, sauteed zucchini w/soy sauce
S: Mixed broad and soy beans, pea based Chinese noodles, sauteed eggplant
Another Green Day- Yay! I think for maximum satiety, it's good for me to eat a light lunch and an early supper. This only works when I am at home all day.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Th 140807
B: Cheese and wasa crackers, instant decaf coffee (not the best!)
L: white rice with seaweed wrappers + soy sauce, beans +eggplant curry
S: buttered cauliflower, 1/2 grapefruit
I'm trying to be off caffeine for a while. It gets to be such an addiction! I don't mind having the occasional coffee as a treat because of the taste, but I really hate "needing" it to wake up in the morning.
I'm at the end of a chunk of cheese I bought in Germany. It's amazing how their run of the mill supermarket cheese is FAR better than anything you can get where I live, and cheaper too.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Sa 140809 S day- Yay!
B: Sm. bowl heavily optimized oatmeal, 1 banana, instant decaf coffee.
L: Minestrone soup, few slices Black Forest ham (yum!), few squares German chocolate.
S-day treat: Cake at Madi's birthday party, some fruit.
S: snack food
I was invited to a 2 year old's birthday party this afternoon. Glad to have cake in her honor on an S day!
I'm trying to eat a fair amount of beans, rice, pasta, etc... things that have been languishing in my cupboard for possibly a couple of years! Ran into some pine nuts and walnuts that were too old to eat the other day. I hate to waste food, so I hope that after eating out of the pantry for a while, I can keep better track of what I have on hand and rotate it in a better way.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Tu 140807
B: oatmeal, decaf coffee
L: tomatoes +cucumbers w/hummus based dressing, veggie burger (no bread)
S: peanuts and roasted grain, veggie burger w/mayo, mustard, tomato, and lettuce (no bread), 1/2 plain baked sweet potato.
I made a batch of veggie burgers that turned out great! Just the right amount of spice. That is hit and miss as I follow a recipe that is more of a general guide on amounts. I love it when I eat almost vegan all day! I feel lighter somehow.
I have had a little bit of craving for sweets today, but not really too bad. I think not drinking regular coffee helps with that, but it's hard to tell. I just know that sweet things wash down really well with a cup of coffee!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Th 140807
B: oatmeal, banana, decaf coffee
L: vegan platter at Sisay's
pm: cup of steamed milk
S: peanuts and roasted grain, veggie burger w/mustard, salad, brie cheese
Agreed to meet a friend for coffee after work and didn't want to have any caffeine and steamed milk sounded to me. It had just the right level of being filling and warm.
My salad this evening tasted really sweet with no dressing... nice to be away from sweets for some days and taste the natural sweetness of raw vegetables!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Su 140817
B: (overslept) decaf coffee, 1 c regular coffee at church- my first cup in a week!
L: tofu, rice, seaweed wrappers, soy sauce, peanuts, roasted grain, candy
S: @Barmafel: steamed milk, veggie platter
I really over-ate on the candy before and after lunch on Saturday. I think I didn't eat enough protein at lunch or supper to really provide satiety. It seems like the cookies on Friday (NWS day) made me start craving sweet things before the weekend even started. I am toying with the idea of trying to avoid sweets altogether for a week or two and see if the cravings back off. Not as a sort to of rule, but in an effort to feel better! We'll see. I was happy last Sunday to have a glass of juice instead of coffee and cake after lunch, and that felt special as it was in a cafe with people, etc. I would be just as happy if special treats were the type of thing that would be allowed even on N days- a juice, a milky drink, yummy meals that are not painfully large, enjoying even blood sugar levels from sticking to regular meals, etc.
I weighed in yesterday, and found I hadn't lost an ounce since restarting a few weeks ago... that is a bit discouraging, but I will try to focus on HABIT, and not the number, or how discouraging it is that my clothes are not getting looser yet.

Last edited by osoniye on Fri Aug 22, 2014 10:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Sonya, I agree, your food choices do sound absolutely wonderful. Do you cook your meals at home or buy most of it? Nice job on the Red Event - I hope you savored that cake! And, it looks like you didn't get de-railed at all, success!

Thanks for stopping by aspencer27! I usually make most of my own food, but this past week I was in some meetings near a good restaurant, so I ate most lunches out.
The veggie burgers are a current favorite, and that is the recipe at http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/s ... g-burgers/ They are sooooo good, and something you custom make based on what you have on hand. They reheat really well, too, and are great with a salad even without a bun. I can't recommend them enough!
I had yet another Red event on the heels of the last one, but for totally different reasons and didn't derail, so feel OK about it. Yes, I did savor that piece of cake... it was really good.

Fr 140822
B: grapefruit, fried tofu squares (1/2 plate total)
L: sm bowl soup, veggie burger, salad w/hummus and Italian dressings Red event: 1/3 candy bar
S: ratatouille, beans/sweet potato/green beans skillet
I've had 2 red days just now, but for good reasons and I don't regret them, just marking them as data points. It was good PR to split a candy bar with a difficult co-worker this afternoon, and I don't think too much harm was done. Yay, tomorrow is an S day- I can't fail!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Sa 140823 S Day!
B: veggie burger, lettuce/tomato/avocado salad w/balsamic vinegar, decaf coffee, hot cocoa (2 packets)
Snack: 12 bite sized peanut butter cups
L: ratatouille with a few beans, grapefruit
S: @Cor's: milk and coconut based veg curry, rice, salad, lemon bar, few chips
Now that I've polished off the large bag of peanuts and one of roasted barley, I'm trying to cut down on the crunchy snack foods, especially on N days, even though they are allowed as part of a meal. I think I need to be eating foods that are heavy and filling, but not so calorie dense.
I find I feel better without sweets. Not sure what to do about that... don't want to make any rules for S days. I suppose I just need to put a lot of energy into planning good, enjoyable, filling meals, even on
S days, and remind myself of how much less settled I feel after eating sweets and see if I just naturally stop wanting and eating them. You know, embracing the whole "sometimes" thing. (Just feeling a bit overstimulated after 2 packets of hot cocoa. Maybe it's that there is some caffeine in there, too!)

I second what you said about snack foods. Even though they're allowed with meals, they often get me into trouble, adding calories without any nutrition (my drug of choice is pretzel sticks at work) and giving only marginal pleasure. A good meal is very often enough in itself.

Hi, Imogen- Yeah, snack foods. I think they are tempting because a) they are tasty and b) the are an easy thing to add to meals as opposed to putting that much more effort into making the meal satisfying enough on its own. Maybe I'll post a question on the general topics area and see what other people think about this.

Su 140824
B: hot cocoa, 1 c reg coffee w/milk
L: 3 yummy bowls of ham/veg/pasta soup, 12 sm squares mocha candy
Snack: hummus with olive oil and black pepper (eaten with a spoon:)), more candy
S: veggie burger with cubed tomatoes/avocado, mayo/mustard
I am wondering about my weakly cup of regular coffee. I am a bit jittery from it today as I've been off caffeine. I like the idea of being awake/alert for the sermon on a Sunday, and the soft, soothing tones of a preacher can too much, even if the sermon is otherwise interesting and helpful. Maybe I should switch to regular tea.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Nice green day. I don't often skip breakfast, but when I do the other 2 plates leave me feeling a little bit hungry. That seems to be real physical hunger, not mental. I guess I should try to eat breakfast, since there's only 1 plate per meal and I don't eat super-dense foods a lot of the time.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

We 140827
B: decaf coffee (only)
L: Red event: work celebration: salad, steak, fries, veggies, 2/3 mousse for dessert, 1/3 c coffee.
S: ratatouille, veggie burger
I had a red event today. This month has been very heavy on work celebrations, and those are about to be cut way back. Each one has been important, and the days didn't turn into disasters. I think it helps to say "red event" as opposed to "red day" or "fail" for my self talk, even though I know the day is red because of it.

Thanks Imogen and worth it! It sure helps me to keep it confined to one space and time!

Fr 140829 "S" for Sick day
B: 2 packets hot cocoa, 1/3 c reg coffee w/milk
L: veggie burger with horseradish, grapefruit
S: @ w/Cor: Korean meal: sweet +sour beef/pork, noodles, BarBQ beef, rice, malt drink
Seemed to have some kind of bug last night. I've felt better today, but the only thing that appealed to me for breakfast was hot chocolate, and as miserable as I felt last night, I think this was fine. It seems to have set me back on my toes!

Hi eschano- thanks for stopping by. Yes, this the recipe: http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/s ... g-burgers/ which I made with black beans, and quinoa &oats for the grain. They are really, really good!!! (I did use a spice mix- southwestern seasoning which has salt in it, that's not part of the recipe.)

Mo 140908
B: decaf. mocha (made with ground raw cocoa nibs and 1t sugar), tomato, pea +rice soup
L: black bean burger, cooked oats, salad
S: cold cereal +milk
Back on the N day horse. Felt hungry today after lunch (already hungry for supper at 2:30 p). I ate enough for both breakfast and lunch, without overeating- full plate at lunch, very full medium-sized bowl at breakfast. I wonder if the small recent weight loss has made my appetite kick in to overdrive, like my body doesn't want to give anything up. It might also be that one of my housemates is baking granola and the smell is permeating my at home office. I hate sharing living quarters, but it's expensive to have one's own house here.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Tu 140909
B: (5:30a) veggie burger, grain, hot sauce
L: w/Ammi@ AGuben: oily tuna +veggie sub (yuck)
S: cold cereal +milk
Red event: snack- a few cookies and a few savory turnovers that were really yummy.
I had a really busy day today, running here and there. I met a friend for lunch and the server gave the wrong order to the sandwich maker. I had bitten into the sub before realizing it was tuna in oil. It was so gross. The server acted very scared when I pointed this out and kept saying "sorry" but not offering to replace it or respond to my request for a replacement to the sub I ordered. I imagine calling the manager over would result in the price of the food coming out of her pay or her losing her job. It was a gross lunch and I don't feel all that warm and fuzzy for giving her a break. Bleck. It's so weird living in an area that doesn't see customer satisfaction as a thing.
I imagine my part of the September challenge thread will be all lit up like Christmas. I don't know why I had the fail today... I've been feeling fat and like this weight is never going to go away for good, and yet I overindulged this evening.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Su 140914 S-Day, invoking the "Sometimes" clause
B: crescent roll w/butter and cheese, leftovers, tea w/milk
L: veggie burger, tomato, oats
S: grilled veggies, salad
Nothing sweet sounded good or necessary today. My weight is a little bit up, which I don't like. I think maybe, as I look at my food diary from the past few weeks that I am eating too many dense foods. I don't eat a roll with my veggie burgers, but I have typically had cooked whole oats on the side. I make veggie burgers 1/2 the size the recipe says to do, so I allow 2 if I want them both. Maybe that plus the oats is too much. I usually fit some raw veggies on the plate as well, but it is not always 1/2 the plate.
That's usually breakfast or lunch. Otherwise, I've been eating lighter suppers, which I think is a good idea. However, some S-days have been too heavy. I have mostly finished off my candy stash, which is a good thing, but I have seconds on S days and feel overly full as a result. When I'm enjoying good food I want to keep eating, but really, I often go beyond what will make me feel good physically later on. My intention is to pay more attention to that, and try to stop when I know I've had enough and not keep ploughing on, just because I am enjoying the food.
Funnily enough, my "red events" don't seem to be major culprits. They were mostly contained and had a reason behind them. I think the daily "what" on the plate is a bigger problem.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

The week went fine, with one sick day. Most food the same as last week, so I won't post the details. S day treat on Saturday was a small mushroom pizza with 2 (non-alcoholic) malt drinks.
I'm getting really sick of the veggie burgers. This took long enough, but I'll have to think of a new (healthy) food jag to get on when I get back home after next week. I hope to make a big pot of veggie soup then. Maybe some marinated eggplant.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Back home after 3 weeks of travel...
I made an observation this trip away that was helpful. I was getting tired of the food I had carried for meals, and was simultaneously starting to run low, so I decided to cut back on the portion sizes. Lo and behold, that same old fare started to taste really good when I was actually hungry! So, lesson learned from travel: I can probably do with smaller portions of the monotonous food I carry, and enjoy it more!

Another thing- I have always found it hard to get half my plate to be veggies and fruit, and berating myself at the table didn't seem to make much of a difference. I am realizing that the problem starts much earlier on, at the supermarket. Right now, I have plenty of pantry supplies that I am trying to use up, so there is no need of buying anything other than fresh fruits and vegetables and a few proteins to round my meals out (fish, yogurt, tofu, nuts &seeds, meat, etc.) So I did a big shop yesterday and bought a LOT of food in those categories... carrots, Swiss chard, avocados, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes, oranges, strawberries, bananas, yogurt, etc. My fridge is really full! It is a consideration that this type of cooking requires a lot of preparation time. I read on the internet about people who come home from the supermarket and prep their produce to throw together quick salads and smoothies, etc. and it takes 10-20 minutes. Really, today I have spent a couple of hours in the kitchen washing and chopping produce and cleaning up. I've enjoyed my meals immensely, but I know I can't spend this kind of time more than once a week on this. So, I have a few things prepped ahead, but not nearly all the stuff I bought. I guess I'll have to find a balance in some way.
Anyway, here's to many plates of nutritious and delicious food!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Nice job! Glad to hear about the smaller portion sizes. I definitely want to start focusing on that. I am trying to get more veggies, too - they are a fair amount of work to prep at home. I've been trying get up early on the weekends and prep them, so the weeknights are much quicker. I'm struggling with balancing prepping enough and not letting it go bad. When you figure it out, let me know!

Thanks for stopping by, aspencer! Yeah, it's a challenge knowing how much to buy and how much to prep before stuff goes bad. I find avocados tend to over-ripen or mold here in a few days, but they're so good when they're either just ripe, on salads, or a little more ripe for guac. I tend to get messed up if I buy a lot of produce and then have a particularly social week, where I'm eating out or at someone's home unexpectedly. Carrots, onions and oranges are my favorites for lastability, bananas and broccoli, not so much! You'll have to let me know too, when you get it figured out!!

It's going well this week, as I try to use up the most perishable produce first. I'm enjoying my food and the scales seems to be trending downward when I weigh in. (I managed to get a favorite pair of jeans zipped up today, for the first time in months, yay!)
Smoothies and salads are good for being accepting of all comers. NWS day today, as I have lunch out with a friend and a child's birthday celebration this evening. I can always take a "Sometimes" on Saturday, as I don't have anything special planned.
A good end of week and weekend to all!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Doing fine here. Mostly green days. I'm trying to work in more vegetables as noted in prior posts. I read about an eating plan (credited to Alton Brown) where you try to eat every day: fruits, whole grains, dark leafy greens, nuts, carrots and green tea. 3 times per week is: avocado, oily fish, broccoli, yogurt, sweet potato, cauliflower, and tofu. There are some restrictions, but I figure sticking to NoS will take care of problems with excess.
I don't get in everything all the time, but it has been a good guide for my shopping list, to pick up those things and other things to go with them. I haven't got bored with it so far. I wonder about eating the carrots and broccoli that often, but so far I'm enjoying it. I really do better with the type of thinking that says "add more of this" rather than one that says "don't eat that".
Well, that's the positive side. On the down side, I overate on Saturday. I had a fine time at a luncheon potluck and baby shower, with seconds of lovely food and cake. Then for supper, one small plate of food would have been perfect, but I wound up having seconds, because you know, it's an S day. That really made me feel overfull and uncomfortable and wondering why I did it! The food wasn't even that good... I guess it was just the bad habit that when I'm in a slightly uncomfortable social situation, it feels more socially comfortable to keep stuffing my face for something to do. Makes the cook feel appreciated and all that. I suppose I could just eat slower, which would have a lot of advantages, but then the food gets cold. Do any of you slow eaters reading this have any helpful perspective on how to embrace the quickly cooling food, while you chew every bite thoroughly?

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

I'm still hanging in here. Some lunch plates are pretty large and full! Had a funny couple of days last week where I had a craving (which I gave in to) for a soft drink with my lunch. That almost never happens! I think I've lost a few pounds and the cravings reflect my body's reticence to give that up.
I've been eating 1/2 handful of peanuts as part of breakfast and supper, which is a bad habit, but allowable within the rules. Similarly, I ate oven fries with cheap ketchup (high in HFCS) the past couple of evenings as part of supper. Nothing to brag about, but not a "sweet".
I'm looking forward to a fun annual international event on Saturday, which involves food booths from a variety of different countries. I've been known to walk away having consumed such incongruous choices as coffee, Korean chap che, grilled chicken and caviar. That's my kind of "S" day!
I had a little kitchen accident on Saturday, involving one of those stove top espresso makers that build up pressure, and after a moment of spectacularly bad judgement when it didn't seem to be operating properly, wound up in a walk in clinic needing 4 stitches for a gash in my forehead. So thankful that my eyes were not injured!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Well, I've been slowly and steadily losing weight since my last re-start. The problem with re-starts is that I'm at a higher weight than the one before each time, and I don't get get back down to my NoS starting weight before I travel again and wind up in the weeds. So this time I really want to stay on NoS most of the time while I am in travel mode, and not occasion another re-start. I will leave where I live on Dec 14th, and return on Feb 6th. That is plenty of time to rack up some pounds, and I hope by keeping on habit, that it doesn't happen this time. The first 3 weeks are vacation time in Namibia, which is lovely and has huge opportunities for overeating yummy German food and seafood. I need to come up with a baseline for how many S days to take. In addition to that, I want the S days to be a bit more tame.
I'm thinking of allowing heavy restaurant meals which are larger than usual, to be my go-to S treats and avoid perma-snacking and heavy desserts outside of the "real" holidays which will include Christmas, New Year's Eve and an early birthday celebration with a friend. That sounds like moderation to me.
Then, there is a month in the US, which can be a real recipe for disaster. I need a strategy for meals at Mexican restaurants, where I love the basket of chips and salsa. That usually happens on a week night, so I may consider making Saturdays and Tuesdays my S days. (Sundays are often a heavy, one plate meal at lunch and going out for coffee with my mom in the afternoon, but none of that requires an S day.) Well, these are my musings so far.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

I am retired and often travel. I always try to keep the no snacking rule and also try to keep to one plate per meal, no seconds. The plate can be a full size dinner plate, and I have to use virtual plating at times. However I allow myself one sweet a day. I do not always eat a sweet, but it is permitted if I want it. I also make sure I am getting my exercise. I follow this pattern 7 days a week, no S days, just S events.

This structured cheating on vacation has worked for me. I rarely gain more than a pound or two and occasionally lose a pound or two. It is also fairly easy to get back to the normal No S routine after vacation.

Thanks for stopping by r.jean. I like your idea of 1 sweet per day. I don't always want a sweet- sometimes I'd rather have a second or a snack, so I tried to do "1 S per day" on vacation, but sadly I put on some weight! The main problem was meals in restaurants, which were heavy. I followed the glass ceiling of 2 drinks per day with just 1 fail, but I fear that beer and wine add calories that I can ill afford to take in on a regular basis. I'm back to teetotalling now for a while.
After 3 weeks of fun vacation, I am now in the US phase of my time away from my regular workplace. I have not been following NoS very well, though it is always the goal.
My birthday is on Wednesday and that will involve a restaurant meal and I am being taken out for supper on Thursday evening as well. I can only hope that these heavy plates will stop soon, and that I can eat more meals of my own making.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Another re-start here. It is concerning that at each restart, I am starting out heavier than I was at the last one. But NoS has gone really well for me, it's just that I go off it for a month or so, a couple of times per year for various reasons. I need to come up with better strategies for not doing that. But for now, I'm back in my conducive environment and feel confident I can stick with my 3 plates for some months to come.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

Thanks for stopping by, ginger!
Things are going along fine here. I may have things that are a little bit too sweet (like banana bread) with meals, but I'm sticking to 3 meals with no seconds or snacks. I feel much better being back on the program than I did with the snacking I was doing for the past month!

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

The past 2 days have been red, but not alarming. I am trying to get back to the 3 meal habit after the weekend and travel for the past 3 or so weeks. So I'm not getting too upset about a few sweets yesterday and today, and I'm happy with the meals I've had.
The trip was mostly NoS compliant. There were a few small pizzas that stretched the limit of a normal plate, and a few communal meals eaten off a big tray with other people which were impossible to determine the real size of.
I need to focus on the "no sweets" rule, and hope to add that back in tomorrow. It would help if I'd get some grocery shopping done soon, so I have regular meals to choose from. I'm kind of picking and choosing among things I have on hand, and am running out of canned stuff as well as cheese.
I think I lost a few pounds, but will wait to weigh in until a couple of weeks have passed.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".

I'm hanging in here. Most of my days have some kind of a technical fail, with a square of dark chocolate or a hot cocoa drink, which is really a sweet in my book. But I'm sticking to the 3 meal schedule most of the time, and had a tame and enjoyable S event at a potluck yesterday, where I enjoyed seconds and desert, and then skipped supper, cause I really didn't need any.

-Sonya
No Sweets, No Snacks and No Seconds, Except (Sometimes) on days that start with "S".